2015 Canadian Jewish Literary Awards — Winner, Fiction

Judith finds the courage to stand up for her beliefs and protest anti-Semitic hypocrisy.
Judith is a young woman who lived in Israel for a decade, was a peace activist there, and defines herself as "left-wing," yet in graduate school back in Canada, she discovers that vilification of Israel is the expected norm. When the keynote speaker for Anti-Oppression Day turns out to be a supporter of terrorist attacks not only against Israeli military targets, but also against Israeli civilians and Jews around the world, Judith protests. As a result, she is marginalized by the faculty and her peers, and her life begins to unravel.
This is a moving novel about love, betrayal, and the courage to stand up for what one believes, as well as a searing indictment of the hypocrisy and intellectual sloth that threaten the integrity of our society.
'Wistful Woman' painting on the cover was created by Peter Worsley (http://www.peterworsley.com/), and used with the artist’s permission.

Dr. Nora Gold is a prize-winning author and the founder and editor-in-chief of the prestigious literary journal Jewish Fiction .net, which has readers in 140 countries. Gold’s first book, Marrow and Other Stories, won a Vine Canadian Jewish Book Award and was praised by Alice Munro. Her second book, Fields of Exile, won the inaugural Canadian Jewish Literary Award for best novel. The Dead Man received a Canada Council for the Arts translation grant and was published in Hebrew. 18: Jewish Stories Translated from 18 Languages, an anthology of translated works, was praised by Publishers Weekly, Cynthia Ozick, and Dara Horn. In Sickness and In Health/Yom Kippur in a Gym (two novellas) will be published on March 1, 2024 with Guernica.

Nora Gold's profile page

• Winner, Canadian Jewish Literary Awards, Novel

Fields of Exile is a novel that tackles some difficult questions. What exactly is terrorism? Does Israel have the right to defend itself against suicide bombers? Are those who attack Israel’s responses to terrorism anti-Semites? What can be done to properly and fairly state Israel’s case on Canadian campuses? Even so, the novel is not political in nature. This gripping work of fiction is also the very touching story of a young woman faced with the challenges of life, both on campus and at home.

TimesofIsrael.com

The author of a previous well-received collection of stories titled Marrow, Gold is a highly competent writer and reportedly the first to focus on the shocking anti-Israel climate now prevalent on many Canadian and American campuses.

Canadian Jewish News

Gold offers sensuous descriptions of the Jewish homeland …

Quill & Quire

…the great strength of this novel is Nora Gold’s spot on portrayal of the shock of encountering antisemitism, the dizzying dismay of finding that howling hateful horde even here in Canada.

Jewish Tribune

Given the climate of anti-Israel hatred, this book is an excellent choice for book discussion clubs and interfaith and inter-political dialogue.

The Association of Jewish Libraries